Civic Arena
Also known at the Mellon Arena Background * The Civic Arena is historic. * The Civic Arena's naming rights were sold to Mellon Bank. The money for the naming rights went to the Pittsburgh Penguins, not the real owners, the people. * The Penguins’ new arena will have 18,500 seats, 1,500 more than Mellon Arena. * Address: 66 Mario Lemieux Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219 * 412-642-1800 The Mellon Arena is famous for its revolutionary architectural design which features the largest retractable, stainless steel dome roof in the world. Its 170,000 total square feet and 2,950 tons of Pittsburgh steel. The roof, which has no interior supports, is divided radially into eight leaves and is supported by a huge cantilever arm that arches 260 feet. The Mellon Arena, which was featured in the 1995 film "Sudden Death" starring Jean Claude Van Damme, boasts a dome that is designed to open or close in just two minutes. The size of the Mellon Arena floor is 200 feet x 85 feet (17,000 square feet) for hockey, and can be expanded to 250 feet x 120 feet (30,000 square feet) by pushing back the A-level seats. Open the Roof * The roof at the Civic Arena can open. It has not been made to open in recent times however. The roof works. It's the damn center ice scoreboard/"jumbotron" and the rigging for it that needs to come down before the roof can open. Destruction * Planks on the civic arena and a possible new arena from Mark Rauterkus * Civic Arena-plank-AI New Arena Deal could be much better, from Allegheny Institute * Civic Arena-plank-Pierogie April 2007 from Pgh City Paper's Pierogie Links * Penguins * Old arenas * Public Hearing Speakers about Civic Arena from March 3, 2008 Media * Hill District power play has many facets By Mike Seate, TRIBUNE-REVIEW, January 22, 2008 * Penguins unveil arena design drawings Post-Gazette, August 2007. * Seven-year quest begat new arena for Pens - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - March 2007. * http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07042/760884-109.stm from Feb 2007 about re-use of the Civic Arena Great visions * Land for new arena secured from Trib in October, 2006 Deals reached on land for Uptown arena -- The city-county Sports and Exhibition Authority expects to own all the property needed for a new Uptown arena before National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman visits Pittsburgh in late November, 2006. Bettman talked by phone with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, and reiterated his support for keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh with a new arena. Bettman said he is planning the visit. * Favorite Memories from the P-G's readers in Feb 2007 * Concert, city take tow on mom, dad - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - parking issues near Civic Arena on Centre Avenue from January 2008 Blogs * March of the Penguins blog entry and comments via Johnathan Potts * March of the Penguins blog entry and comments via Johnathan Potts Insights Civic Arena has, at most just 30,000 square feet of exhibit space. Events have included: * Monster Jam truck show * Xplosion basketball games * Penguins games * Concerts: ** George Strait, Feb. 16, 2007 ** Rod Stewart, Feb. 17, 2007 Links * Downtown * Convention Center Photos , made bare before rebuilding in 2016.]]